India A vs England Lions, 5th Unofficial ODI, Review: A superlative effort from Ben Duckett helps the Brits escape the whitewash

The 5th one-day game between India A and England Lions was one hell of a humdinger. The match, although a low-scoring one, left the fans glued to their seats throughout. In the end, it was the England Lions who emerged victoriously and escaped the whitewash. Ben Duckett was the one-man warrior for the visitors.

He alone scored 56 per cent of the team’s total and was successful in getting them over the line. For India A, the Chahar brothers – Deepak and Rahul, had a great day at the office. However, their efforts fell short as they failed to stop Ben Duckett.

India A struggle with the bat

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, KL Rahul was dismissed by Lewis Gregory for a golden duck. His opening partner Himmat Singh, who was drafted into the eleven for this match, also had a miserable outing. Himmat was trapped in front of the wickets LBW by Tom Bailey. The same bowler also dismissed the skipper Ankit Bawne for a duck after his struggled 17-ball stay in the middle.

Rishabh Pant, after playing a match-winning knock in the last game only managed to pile up 7 runs off 14 balls. Siddhesh Lad with a 40-ball 36 was the highest run-scorer in the innings. Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar made handy contributions of 23 and 21 runs respectively as India A was bundled out for 121 runs in 35 overs. Jamie Overton picked up three wickets in the innings.

Ben Duckett eclipses the efforts of the Chahar brothers

If you think India A’s batting was worse, then words will fall short to describe the poor show from the English batsmen. It was Ben Duckett who dictated the terms and took complete control over the proceedings. He remained unbeaten on 70 while chasing a total of 122 runs which is a testimony of how big a contribution he made all alone.

The next highest score in the innings was from Sam Hain who scored 12 runs. From 87/4, England Lions collapsed to 95/8 within 3 overs as the Chahar brothers were breathing fire. Yet, Ben Duckett maintained his composure, didn’t let the nerves take over him and took the team over the winning line. Both Deepak Chahar and Rahul Chahar picked up three wickets each.

Brief Scores:

India A: 121/10 in 35 overs (Siddhesh Lad 36, Axar Patel 23, Jammie Overton 3/24)

England Lions: 125/9 in 30.3 overs (Ben Duckett 70*, Sam Hain 12, Rahul Chahar 3/43)

Result: England Lions won by 1 wicket.

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